Red Devil (interurban)
Encyclopedia
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
interurban
Interurban
An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...
trolley (tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
). It was developed by the Cincinnati Car Company
Cincinnati Car Company
Cincinnati Car Company or Cincinnati Car Corporation was a subsidiary of Ohio Traction Company. It designed and constructed interurban cars, streetcars and buses. It was founded in 1902 in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1928 it bought the Versare Car Company.The company was among the first to make...
for the Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad
Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad
The Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad was a short-lived electric interurban railway that operated in 1930-1939 Depression-era Ohio between Cincinnati, Springfield, Columbus, and Toledo...
(C&LE), which bought 20 of them in 1929 for service between cities and towns in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. At 24 ST (21.4 LT) and 43 in 9 in (13.34 m) long, they were among the first lightweight trolleys, with side plates in aluminum. They had toilets, a luggage department, and up to 44 seats.
The Red Devil was a forerunner of the high-speed trains
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
of the 1930s. With four 100 hp motors, its energy consumption was lower than other interurbans running at the same speed, and its trucks made it well adapted to rough tracks. Braking problems on the Red Devil were solved by designing a magnetic track brake that came into play only after the air brake application approached the safe limits of wheel friction.
The construction had some weaknesses. The riveting of aluminum plates to a steel frame produced an electrolytic
Electrolysis
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of using a direct electric current to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction...
reaction that gave rise to corrosion in the side panels and the front and rear dashers. C&LE replaced some of the aluminum plates with steel.
The race between the interurban and the plane
The Red Devil's commercial speed was 90 mph (145 km/h). Not only was it the fastest interurban of its time, it outpaced even the fastest conventional train in commercial traffic, the 80 mph (129 km/h) Cheltenham Spa ExpressCheltenham Spa Express
The Cheltenham Spa Express is a British named passenger train service from Paddington station, in London, to Cheltenham Spa, in Gloucestershire, via Reading, Kemble, Stroud, Stonehouse and Gloucester...
and was almost as fast as the German 160 km/h (99.4 mph) Fliegender Hamburger, which was inaugurated in 1933 (see Land speed record for rail vehicles#Scheduled trains).
In 1930, a race was organized between a Red Devil and a plane. The stunt's result was that the interurban car ran at 97 mph (156 km/h) – and won. Another car outdistanced a race car by 15 lengths in a race held on the National Road
National Road
The National Road or Cumberland Road was the first major improved highway in the United States to be built by the federal government. Construction began heading west in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland, on the Potomac River. It crossed the Allegheny Mountains and southwestern Pennsylvania, reaching...
between Springfield and Columbus.
The interurban crisis
When the Red Devils were introduced, the interurban business was in a crisis caused by the increased use of private automobiles and buses, which both took passengers and created traffic jams in the streets where the interurban cars also ran. The interurban companies had to pay for their right-of-way. In contrast, motorists' roads were built using taxpayers' money (and the interurban companies were among the biggest taxpayers). The Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
created problems from 1929 on. In addition, there was a fierce rivalry between the interurban and steam railroad companies; in some places, steam trains and interurban rail cars ran side by side, until both were swept away by the automobile.
C&LE survived the Depression, and Red Devils contributed to this. However, better times in the latter part of the 1930s also meant more automobiles. In 1939, the company went bankrupt, and 13 of its Red Devils were sold to Lehigh Valley Transit Company (LVT). They were reconditioned by the innovative LVT Allentown shops and then operated from Allentown to Philadelphia as Liberty Bell Limiteds. They served hilly Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
as well as they had served flat Ohio. The World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
restrictions on automobiles, buses, gas, and tires made the business flourish for a while. After the war, the use of automobiles grew faster than ever. And in 1951, LVT's interurban service suddenly ceased. A memorial of the Red Devils is a paved walking/biking trail called The Liberty Bell Trail
Liberty Bell Trail
The Liberty Bell Trail is a suburban rail trail under construction in southeastern Pennsylvania.When complete it will cover in suburban southeastern Pennsylvania, traveling from East Norriton Township in Montgomery County to Quakertown in Bucks County....
.
Head-on collisions
Most of the worst interurban accidents were head-on collisions on single-tracked lines without block signals. The Cincinnati and Lake Erie had a number of such accidents seriously hurting the line's financial condition due to lawsuits. (See ref. Keenan). After the Red Devils went to the Lehigh Valley Transit, a telescoping accident July 1942 killed twelve people in a head-on collision between one of LVT's Liberty Bells and a heavier freight motor near northern Norristown when the motorman of the Liberty Bell ignored his orders to wait for the freight motor at a siding.9. Lehigh Valley Transit Company Wikipedia = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehigh_Valley_Transit_Company 11. Cincinnati Car Company “Specifications,” shop orders 3050 and 3055, ten limited and ten local passenger cars for the Cincinnati Hamilton & Dayton Railway company, 5 Nov. 1929, p. 1, author’s collection. 12. William D. Middleton, "Extra Fast and Extra Fare" = Cincinnati Car Company new truck design, p423. 14. Jack Keenan: The Fight for Survival: The Cincinnati & Lake Erie and the Great Depression= http://www.indianahistory.org/our-services/books-publications/railroad-symposia-essays-1/The%20Fight%20for%20Survival.pdf
Sources
- Bradford C. Snell 1974: American Ground Transport: A Proposal for Restructuring the Automobile, Truck, Bus and Rail Industries. Report presented to the Committee of the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Antitrust and Monopoly, United States Senate, February 26, 1974, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1974, pp. 16–24.
- J.L.Koffmann 1980: "Der Rollenstromabnehmer in Amerika," Der Stadtverkehr, 4/1980, pp. 182–184.
- Jürgen Burmeister 2009: "Commuter Railways in den USA," Stadtverkehr, 11/09, pp. 46–47.
- McKelvey, Wm., Jr; Lehigh Valley Transit Company Liberty Bell Route- A Photographic History 97pp, 296 photographs. Canal Captain's Press, Berkley Heights, NJ. (1989.) (ISBN 0-9613675-1-2, Library of Congress 88-092760)